Well what was the performance against Bradford City like? Words such as poor, horrendous, disappointing, demoralising all could sum up the performance on Saturday. The poor attendance of only 3,255 is also a major worry ahead of the final 5 months of this League 2 campaign.
With the trapdoor looming and no games for over a month it was to be expected that the Imps would be a little rusty but in defence, there is probably less rust on the Titanic. Two errors gifted the Bantams their goals and an increasingly goal-shy attack could only muster a reply through an Ashley Grimes penalty following a period of good City pressure.
As for a goal through open play, well we can only dream of seeing one again soon. The first defensive mishap came when a long ball into the box should have been cleared by Moses Swaibu but for whatever reason it was left for James Hanson to put the ball past Joe Anyon. What was the problem, communication, a lack of match fitness, a lack of understanding in the back four? We can only speculate but Tilly has to address the problems as quickly as possible before the Imps get caught even further into the whirlpool to the Conference.
As if the first goal was bad enough just before halftime game the killer second when Gareth Evans, a former City target, burst into the box, signalled his intentions and then finished the move with a strike at the near post. Meanwhile, the Lincoln defence watched on in admiration.
There were moments of hope for the imps with a number of chances going begging but with a lack of a clinical finisher up front, it’s going to be a long season. What is really needed though is an experienced central defender who can stick his foot in. As Tilson commented after the match: “Saturday was disappointing in the fact we conceded two poor goals.” Adding: “We cannot keep conceding as we are. We are giving teams a head start and then trying to get ourselves back into it.” Now where is that Ian Pearce chap these days?
